C H A P T E R T H R E E
Silverkit yawned and glanced around the apprentices den.
The three older apprentices, Wolfpaw, Willowpaw and Holypaw, had already left for training, His sister, Shinypaw, was still asleep next to him, her gray fur rising and falling. Silverpaw prodded her with his paw. Shinypaw opened her wide blue eyes in alarm. Silverpaw let out a mrrow of amusement. The gray she-cat flattened her fur and cuffed Silverpaw lightly. Silverpaw pounced onto Shinypaw and they wrestled in their nest. After a few heartbeats, they broke apart, panting heavily.
“What has Whiteclaw planned for you today?” Silverpaw asked.
Shinypaw’s eyes shone as she replied,” His going to show me some battle moves!”
Silverpaw purred at her enthusiasm. He mewed a goodbye and bounded towards the camp entrance where Sharpclaw was waiting with the deputy, Hailstone. Silverpaw mewed a hasty greeting to both warriors.
“Today, I will be showing you the forest. Hailstone will be joining us.” Sharpclaw growled. The two warriors exchanged looks and without pausing, they followed a strong-smelling path leading out of the camp. Silverpaw quickly bounded after them, trying his best to keep up.
The forest was filled with towering birch, ash and maple trees. Fallen leaves were strewed over the ground. “That is the Great Maple,” Sharpclaw flicked his tail towards the large maple tree with barely any leaves left. He twitched his ear and continued grimly,” It wilts in leaf-bare but when leaf-fall comes, it will be the colour of red, orange, yellow and brown.”
Silverpaw nodded and sniffed the air. The cedar trees around the Great Maple were giving out a sweet smell from its bark.
Sharpclaw flicked his ear towards the forest of willow trees on his left. “You know what that is, don’t you Silverpaw?”
The Whispering Willows,” Silverpaw breathed softly, a mixture of amazement and fear in his eyes. It was rumored to be ruled by a brown grizzly bear, Grumps, who wandered around the forest of willow trees but had never, ever set a paw on any cat, not even an apprentice. It would simply stare but made no move.
“Feel no fear young one.” A deep voice mewed behind him. Hailstone gently swept his tail over his silver flank. “Now, listen to the voices of the willows.”
Silverpaw closed his eyes, feeling a wave of voices wash past him. “Your first time here young one?” a wind whispered as it brushed against him but Silverpaw stood firmly on the ground. He shivered and opened his eyes. “Now you know why this is called the Whispering Willows. Many spirits of cats rest their souls here.” Sharpclaw looked grimly, his gaze wavering on one particular willow tree beside an abandoned fox den.
The three of them padded on towards a large river. “This is the River of Life,” Hailstone told Silverpaw. “This is where we get our food mainly from.”
The gray deputy swiped his paw into the river and hauled a salmon out with his claws. Silverpaw watched the salmon flipping helplessly on the ground in admiration. Hailstone mewed solemnly,” We must give our thanks to StarClan for every life we take. However, we must not misuse the privilege and be merciful.” At the end of his sentence, Hailstone tossed the salmon back into the River of Life.
They continued their tour through the forest. “We are approaching the border between IceClan and FireClan territory,” Hailstone growled. Silverpaw curiously peered through the clumps of bushes and shrubs. Behind the tall pine trees, the land was totally bare, with not even a single patch of grass. A strong burning stench was hanging in the air. Sharpclaw noticed Silverpaw cringed and meowed,” Remember the smell of FireClan cats. They mark these borders very often.”
Sharpclaw padded swiftly away, through an uphill path full of brambles and thorns. Suddenly, two cats crowded at the end of an old rabbit path. “MoonClan,” Sharpclaw hissed under his breath.
“Sharpclaw, where do you think you’re going?* A white tom with a distinctive black stripe on his back growled, looking at the blue-gray tom with narrowed yellow eyes.
Sharpclaw kept his voice low,” Just showing my apprentice around the forest, Backstripe.”
A dark brown tom snorted. Silver pressed himself towards his mentor’s fur. He felt Sharpclaw twitched his ear and gently touched his fur with his tail.
“Your apprentice looks scared, Sharpclaw” The brown tom taunted, looking at Silverpaw.
Silverpaw shifted uncomfortably on his paws. He glanced at his mentor. Sharpclaw dug his claws into the ground and was trying hard not to fling himself onto the brown tom. “You better watch what you’re saying, Talonclaw,” Sharpclaw snarled. Turning to Silverpaw, he forced his voice to be calm. “Come let’s go.”
“Stay away from our border!” Talonclaw hissed and with a silent signal, they turned and disappeared out of sight.
Sharpclaw was in a bad mood. It was obvious as he stomped through the forest, loud enough to wake up the entire forest. Hailstone finally spoke,” The wind is blowing downhill. You won’t get the scent of DarkClan. They take the territory over at the north side. It is the darkest part of the woods.”
Silverpaw saw a glimpse of a dark forest of evergreen trees. He shuddered.
The three cats carried on quickly, turning sharply around the trees. They bounded up an uphill snowy slope. Silverpaw gasped there were four great oaks with an enormous boulder in the middle. “That is the Great Rock, right in the middle of the Fourtrees,” Hailstone meowed. “The four Clans gather here every full moon for a short truce.
“So there’s a gathering soon?” Silverpaw asked and gazed up. The moon shone brightly in the dark sky.
“In fact, there’s a gathering tomorrow!” Hailstone looked at Silverpaw, impressed.
The three of them traced their way back and took another route. “We are approaching the Windy Plains where the wind is the strongest,” The gray tom mewed. The Windy Plains was actually a plot of land with only a few trees. Silverpaw could fill the wind blowing against his fur. “We meet again young one” The wind whispered again.
Hailstone twitched his tail. “Over there is the Shining Stone, a large stone that shines in a dark cave. Medicine cats and leaders go there to share dreams with our warrior ancestors in StarClan.” Silverpaw nodded in understanding.
“It’s getting dark now,” Hailstone commented, gazing at the dark night sky. He nudged Sharpclaw, who was following them blankly, his eyes glazed. “We shall return to the camp.”
With that, the three cats headed back to the camp.
Iceclaw 
Silverstream 
Congratulate them 
